Preconcentration and Analytical Methods for Determination of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether and Other Fuel Oxygenates and Their Degradation Products in Environment: A Review.

Fuel oxygenates (FOs) are mainly ethers or alcohols which are added to gasoline either to boost the octane number or to make the fuel burning process more "cleaner" with increasing the oxygen content, or to obtain a combination of both effects. FOs are water soluble with high mobility in the environment which presence even at very low concentrations lower the quality of water making it unsafe or unpleasant due to their objectionable taste and/or odor. Thus, their determination at trace in environmental samples is of high importance because of their sparingly biodegradability and their biological hazards. Instruments such as gas chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ion mobility spectrometry are mainly used for the determination of FOs. However, the main challenge for determination of such oxygenates relates to proper sample preparation. Dilute or complex samples often demand a specific treatment to ensure effective enrichment of FOs before their detection. The main techniques used for this purpose are purge and trap, membrane extraction, and solid phase microextraction. This review presents a comprehensive evaluation of extraction/preconcentration techniques and analytical methods for determination of FOs in environmental samples. Advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed in details along with critical evaluation of currently available methods.